The first round of France's presidential election has left French voters with a clear choice for their future. The results pit conservative Nicolas Sarkozy against Socialist Segolene Royal in the May 6 runoff ballot. While both candidates promise great change for a country whose confidence has been shaken, they offer vastly different ways forward. France needs a real debate over its future and this campaign could deliver it.

Twelve candidates battled to succeed Mr. Jacques Chirac, the outgoing president who has held office for 12 years and who leaves a legacy of racial violence, economic decline and a withering of France's international image, along with deteriorating relations with many key diplomatic partners. Mr. Sarkozy and Ms. Royal promised a sharp change in national politics. In several important ways, they are similar candidates. They are the first national leaders of a new generation of politicians: Neither experienced World War II. For the first time since 1974, neither presidential candidate has served as president or prime minister. Both have had unconventional political carriers: Mr. Sarkozy is the son of a Hungarian immigrant who did not attend the French elite schools; Ms. Royal is a woman who fought her own party elite. She is the first woman in France to seriously contest the presidency. Both call themselves pragmatic modernists and outflanked the traditional party apparatus to reach out to voters.

But there the similarities end. Mr. Sarkozy is a tough-minded conservative who has put the war on crime at the top of his agenda and who promises to invigorate the economy with smaller government, lower taxes and looser labor laws. Befitting a Socialist, Ms. Royal wants to increase government spending, guarantee jobs, raise the minimum wage and pensions, and help soften the impact of change. But she also recognizes the need to project a tough image. To court voters concerned with law and order, she has called for boot camp for young offenders.